AWAY FROM THE SPECTACLES, WHY DID ARTEMIS-II JUST FLYBY THE MOON WITHOUT LANDING?
Most people think NASA sent four humans around the Moon just for the spectacle. They are wrong. This mission is the first move in the longest chess game humanity has ever played.
Let us break it down properly.
ARTEMIS II. What is it actually testing?
Artemis II is a crewed test flight evaluating Orion’s life support systems, communications at lunar distances, manual piloting capabilities, propulsion, power, thermal control and navigation, all in a real deep space environment for the first time with humans aboard.
The crew also surveyed the lunar surface with human eyes, identifying geological features and potential landing zones that no robot camera can assess with the same judgment.
Yes, the toilet alone cost $23 million. Not a typo.
Space engineering is extraordinarily unforgiving. Everything must work perfectly or four people die.
ARTEMIS III and IV. The landing.
Artemis III in 2027 will test the lunar lander in Earth orbit.
Artemis IV in 2028 will return humans to the Moon’s surface for the first time since 1972, targeting the lunar south pole.
The south pole is not chosen randomly.
WHY THE SOUTH POLE?
Scientists have confirmed the presence of water ice in permanently shadowed craters at the lunar south pole. Water ice can be split into hydrogen and oxygen, providing breathable air, drinkable water and most critically, rocket fuel.
The Moon is not just a destination. It is a refuelling station.
THE MOON BASE. Why live there?
NASA’s plan involves rotating crews staying on the Moon for extended periods, conducting scientific research and preparing for deeper space missions. Temperatures on the lunar surface swing from 127 degrees Celsius in sunlight to minus 173 degrees Celsius in darkness, which is why the south pole, with its near-permanent sunlight on elevated ridges, is the only viable location for a sustainable base.
WHY LAUNCH FROM THE MOON?
Here is the genius of the whole plan. The Moon’s gravity is one sixth of Earth’s. That means a rocket launching from the Moon requires dramatically less fuel to escape into deep space than the same rocket launching from Earth. Think of Earth as launching a rocket from the bottom of a deep well. The Moon is launching from a shallow puddle. To reach Mars from Earth is enormously expensive. To reach Mars from the Moon is a fraction of that cost.
WHY MARS?
Mars is the most Earth-like planet in our solar system, with a day of 24.6 hours, polar ice caps, and evidence of ancient water systems. NASA’s long-term vision is a permanent human settlement on Mars, not as a tourist destination but as a second home for humanity.
WHY DOES ANY OF THIS MATTER NOW?
Because the Sun will eventually end life on Earth. Not tomorrow. Not in a million years. In approximately 7.5 billion years, the Sun will expand into a red giant and engulf the inner planets including Earth. (World History Encyclopedia) On a cosmic timescale, that is not far away. On a human timescale it feels irrelevant. But species that want to survive must think longer than one generation.
Every civilisation that has ever been remembered was the one bold enough to go somewhere nobody had gone before.
AND HOW HAS SPACE RESEARCH ALREADY CHANGED YOUR LIFE?
Before you scroll past this thinking space is someone else’s concern, consider that GPS navigation, weather forecasting, memory foam, water purification filters, scratch resistant lenses, CAT scan technology, portable computers, solar panels, cordless tools, freeze dried food, ear thermometers and smoke detectors all exist because of space research. You are already living in the future that space built.
Artemis II splashes down Friday, April 10, in the Pacific Ocean near San Diego. Four humans coming home after doing something no living person had done in over fifty years.
And in 7.5 billion years, if our descendants are still alive somewhere out there in the universe, they will tell stories about how it all began.
Right here. Right now. With a rocket named Integrity and four brave souls who sent love from the Moon.